Lisa Padgalskas

Author / Thinker / Visualizing a Better World

Dear GiGi,

You’ve been gone a long time now, but I always feel our connection when I write to you. Somehow I know you can see my words and feel my heart. Funny. You can say something out loud, but often it’s soon forgotten. But when you write it down, it’s like it’s there forever.

Did you know I love to write? Even as a kid, I’d disappear into my bedroom for hours trying to figure things out. It was my escape from a sometimes turbulent world, my way to create a space which was safer, more accepting of a shy, skinny little girl who always got lost in the crowd. I’m sure I’ve told you all that before.

I’ve written so many stories, and a lot of them about you, GiGi! In fact, what I really wanted to tell you is I finally finished my book! My debut novel! It’s about a lot of things. It’s about love and friendship and philosophy, and what things might be like when we die.  But I guess mostly it’s about how people can lose one another, then find each other again. The title is Milo in the Sky. Cuz Milo’s in a coma. But it’s there, in a cosmic alternate consciousness more vivid than real life,  that Milo finds beauty and perspective. BTW, you’re in it a lot, too, GiGi. The wise old grandmother who helps him find his way.

It’s certainly been a journey. Writing this book has been a process of pouring out my heart and soul onto blank pages. It’s struggling to find the right characters and words to produce the story I want to tell, a story that I hope will connect and resonate with another person. That process of thinking, writing, rewriting… it takes a long time, as I’m sure you know. Then, when you finally put it out to the world, you’re taking a chance. It’s scary, but I’m doing it.

And then there’s the readers; cherished people who open themselves up to that experience of another person, or perspective, or culture. Reading I think, is an act of curiosity, of an open heart, of acceptance of the person who wrote it. They’re people that take the time and trust the writer has something to say that might shed light on some of the perplexities of this existence. Mostly only my good friends have read it so far. But I’m hoping I can put this out to the world.

Well, goodbye, GiGi. I love you and I miss you. Isn’t strange, though?  As the years go by, I feel more and more connected to you. Even more so than we ever were on earth. I know you understand.

Love, Me